A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Well, there's certainly no sophomore jinx with this guy. He's the real deal and this follow up to the surprise best-selling The Kite Runner is every bit as good. The story has us back in Kabul and centers around two women, Mariam and Laila. I'm not going to go into too much detail because there are a zillion other in-depth reviews of the book that you've probably already read. In fact, you've probably already read the book like a zillion other people on the planet (except for my sister--Sandy, quit fooling around and go buy both of his books and read them. Now.).

I'll say this though: I think he writes women beautifully and that's no small achievement. Smaller in scope than Kite Runner, but equally moving, Hosseini crafts a beautiful work by telling the story of two women who find what they've lost (family) in each other. The ending was a nice surprise, as well. If you're a book snob like me and don't tend to read books that become HUGE bestsellers, get over it. Hosseini is going to be around for a long time.